Remote telemetry and health monitoring systems are commonly used in a variety of industries to monitor the health, status, and/or productivity of remote assets. For example, many automobiles, transportation vehicles, and other types of machines are equipped with on-board data telemetry equipment adapted to monitor the health and status of components and subsystems of the machine. An on-board data collection device may collect the monitored data, analyze the data to determine whether the machine is operating appropriately, and generate visual or audible alarms notifying the operator if the machine is not operating appropriately. In order to perform more complex analysis (e.g., wear analysis, failure prediction, etc.) the data may be periodically transferred from the machine to a computer system or diagnostic tool. In some cases, machines may be equipped with customized satellite communication modules that periodically transmit data from the remote machine to a centralized data collection server via a subscriber-based satellite communication network.
Although satellite communication equipment and manual data transfer techniques provide solutions for offloading data from the machine for diagnostic analysis, they may have significant drawbacks. For example, because satellite communication equipment typically includes high-power, high frequency electronics, satellite communication equipment can be expensive. Moreover, operability of satellite communication networks is often impaired during inclement weather, such as during a thundershower or snowstorm.
While manual data transfer techniques may be less susceptible to inclement weather than satellite communication techniques, they may not be well-suited for project environments that require continuous monitoring and analysis of machine data. For example, because manual data collection techniques require physical offloading of the machine data onto a storage medium and uploading of the data from the storage medium to a database or diagnostic tool, such manual techniques may be impractical for machines operating in extremely remote or hazardous environments. Thus, in order to reliably access and collect machine data in a centralized server, an inexpensive and cost-effective data collection solution may be required.
One method for transferring information to and from a vehicle system is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0168091 (“the '091 publication”) to Huang et al. The '091 publication described a multimedia adapter for a vehicle that may be electronically connected to a multimedia device or system (e.g., MP3 player, etc.) The multimedia adapter may include an ECU and a Bluetooth adapter for connection with a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone. The ECU of the multimedia adapter may be configured to receive audible voice commands from a vehicle operator and convert the voice commands to analog signals for controlling one or more of the multimedia devices. According to one exemplary embodiment, the ECU of the multimedia adapter may be configured to detect an incoming call to the cellular telephone and automatically reduce the volume of the multimedia device without requiring the operator to manually adjust the volume.
Although the system of the '091 publication is configured to transmit data between an adapter module and external system (cellular telephone), it may be limited in certain situations. For example, the system of the '091 publication is not configured to transmit vehicle information to an off-board diagnostic computer system via the cellular telephone device. As a result, the device of the '091 publication may not facilitate remote monitoring of the vehicle or any of its constituent components or systems by an external diagnostic device.
Furthermore, the data transfer capabilities of the system of the '091 publication may be limited to certain relatively remedial functions, such as voice recognition, incoming call detection, and volume control. Such limited functionality may not be conducive to transferring and monitoring large amounts of vehicle health, status, and/or productivity information. In fact, the multimedia adapter described in the '091 publication is limited to multimedia device control functions and does not collect or monitor vehicle health, status, and/or productivity information.
The presently disclosed systems and methods for collection and distribution of machine data via a cellular telephone are directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.